I remember back in time when Sentoryu was still active and had his bloq. I asked him about Shogun who was then Kotokikutsugi and in makushita. Sentoryu's comment was something like "He is good but he needs more muscle and power to get to juryo". Shogun was then around 125-130kg and tarzanish. I bet Sentoryu would appreciate his current power and muscle level.

Gotta ask Shogun about his keiko "weakness" ie. his habit of losing basically 90% of his bouts against both Mickey and Osh. The surprising thing is that he actually looks quite good in losing those bouts. As if he doesn't even go for a win. There was some comment about Osh's condition based on his 15-2 keiko result against Shogun prior to Hatsu basho but that means absolutely nothing really. I wonder how often he beats Katayama who seems to be a regular visitor at Sadogatake-beya.

The Core of Sumou is a very good thing always no matter if sumou is rotten or not.

Gotta ask Shogun about his keiko "weakness" ie. his habit of losing basically 90% of his bouts against both Mickey and Osh. The surprising thing is that he actually looks quite good in losing those bouts. As if he doesn't even go for a win.

I always have the impression during keiko, that he doesn't really give it all against Mickey and Osh ...

Maybe he feels bad about beating an Ozeki in keiko. Doesn't want to make them look bad.

but anyway ... great stuff !!! i like these blogs more and more.

These pics with Kisenosato and Toyonoshima make me realize how friendly everyone is in Ozumo. These guys are supposedly rivals but they definitely don't act like it. Same thing goes for Chiyotaikai and Asashoryu for example and the pics in his blog.

I remember back in time when Sentoryu was still active and had his bloq. I asked him about Shogun who was then Kotokikutsugi and in makushita. Sentoryu's comment was something like "He is good but he needs more muscle and power to get to juryo". Shogun was then around 125-130kg and tarzanish. I bet Sentoryu would appreciate his current power and muscle level.

Gotta ask Shogun about his keiko "weakness" ie. his habit of losing basically 90% of his bouts against both Mickey and Osh. The surprising thing is that he actually looks quite good in losing those bouts. As if he doesn't even go for a win. There was some comment about Osh's condition based on his 15-2 keiko result against Shogun prior to Hatsu basho but that means absolutely nothing really. I wonder how often he beats Katayama who seems to be a regular visitor at Sadogatake-beya.

Sadogatake beya seems to have a relaxed preparation for Haru Basho, Shoki wrote in his blog that he will go for a holiday today and I got a mail that the Heya is going for a holiday to tropical Cebu Islands, Philippines (Hope nobody complains about Asa again ...)

going for a holiday to tropical Cebu Islands, Philippines (Hope nobody complains about Asa again ...)

I know you were joking but in all fairness you can hardly compare someone who was sekiwake for a single tournament with someone who has been yokozuna for 5 years.

As Kotoshogiku himself said he wan't to beat Asashoryu on shonici so that people would know who he was.

I'm pretty sure that if he retired tomorrow no-one outside the world of sumo fandom would notice. That's not being smart-arsed either. It's just a fact that the general public has only a vague idea of rikishi below the rank of ozeki.

sure I was joking but besides we have also 2 Ozeki going for holidays, not only Kotoshogiku

It's just a fact that the general public has only a vague idea of rikishi below the rank of ozeki.

great blog this but I think the piece quoted is a sweeping generalisation that certainly doesn't fall in line with the folk I know - regualr folk in the street.

Many in Adachi-ku (my home area in NE Tokyo) are fired up about the lads at Sakaigawa now that Tochiazuma has had the 'snip' and Tamanoi isn't faring too well and I would say many of the rikishi in makuuchi are known about by the vast majority - to some extent. Many of the lower rankers at the two local stables are known by name or sight too as they use the local stations / shops / bars etc.

This will likely be similar around Tokyo whrever heya are located whic does limit locales of course and no major 'otaku' (unlike those reading this - and typing it) of course but there is a lot more knowledge out there with the general populace than you give them credit for.

Well, I mostly know japanese who are interested in sumo, but a lot of them only know their favourites and can't recognize other wrestlers. But that's only my impression, maybe I'm totally wrong.

What gave me a slight shock last time was my visit to Takanohana Beya. I had to wait a bit and talked with the secretary about favourites. She asked who is mine and I told her (beside Takakiho of course) it's Kakuryu. Huuuuuuuuuu Kakuryu?????????? She didn't know him (ok, ok most of the forum members don't know him either )had to look in the program to find him, said, oh he is mongolian ...

I made a second try and said, I like Kotoshogiku too ... Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ???, the program helped. Didn't want to try someone else, so I asked her, who is your favourite from the sekitori. She had to think, took the program again, browsed in it and finally found a sekitori she heard of recently ... Kisenosato ... browsed a bit more and found Toyonoshima, whom she likes because he is so small. She knew the Yokozuna and the ozeki, the wrestlers of the stable of course but only two of the sekitori. She works for a sumo stable and she is interested in it, so I expected a bit more

Sat next to Tochiazuma senior's high school/junior high school classmate in Osaka one day and talked with him for 2-3 hours. He was avid Tamanoi-supporter. The funny part was that his wife couldn't believe some foreigner knew guys like Amanowaka, Tooyama, Shibuya. It was some kind of a cultural shock to her. The man didn't seem to dumb struck by that and eagerly talked about Azuma and others and he knews his sumo well. It was great talking with him. But it is strange to know makushita or even lower division guys. It is like knowing some 2nd division English league players and one must be quite hard core soccer fan to know them unless it is your home team. Sumoforum has a lot of hard core sumofans. Bias is inevitable. We are weird. Aderechelsea is probably in top 5 in whole Greece when it comes to sumo knowledge, if not in top 3 or top 1?? Can't imagine more connected Israeli than Kintamayama when it comes to sumo etc.

Edited by Kaikitsune Makoto, 13 February 2008 - 22:34.

The Core of Sumou is a very good thing always no matter if sumou is rotten or not.

thanks for the link, fun blog. it's only been online a few weeks but it seems to be getting as many hits as futeno's (called by shogiku the Blog Queen). it's amazing how different shogiku is in his blog, compared to the NHK interviews and his attitude on the dohyo. the smileys he uses, the tilts of the head, the onsen innuendo... he has the whole kawaii act down. and then that goatse parody pic...

yes, knowing too much about sumo (ie. even the simple mention of joui maegashira) can definitely be embarassing if you're among young japanese people. other older, more polite japanese will try to remember stuff and make a conversation. sumo's still a popular sport but it seems it's something your old man would watch, or something you saw as a child or during the 90s boom.

is that a car or something they are all cramped up in? if so, they must have ooshu strapped to the top, if they cant fit in(and there were no larger vehicles), i cant imagine how he got to where they were going.